Wings dinner – Club open day – Stanthorpe flyaway – Adels Grove flyaway Part 2 – How I landed my first job – Camping under the wing – Bob Hoover RIP – Kooralbyn flyaway – Restricted areas can catch you out

Anzac Day dawn service and patrol – Remote piloted aircraft – St Maarten in the Carribean – Mountain flying in New Zealand – A lifetime of aviation – One way to cut the cost of flying – A trip to 1770 – The multi crew environment

Jimbour opera – The Bahamas by 172 – Tailwheel endorsements – Stanthorpe flyaway – Where are they now? – Our new sim – Avalon vs Paris – Evans Head flyaway – Double Bonanza – Mount Gambier aero club

Wellcamp fly in – Cirrus life – Outback, forest, reef – Iconic rivers – RAC open day – Graphical area forecasts – Wynyard aero club – Wings dinner

Magneto mayhem – Great eastern fly in – Importing a Cirrus – Women aviators – PIFR? What? How? Why? – RV adventure

Oshkosh – Outback and gulf safari – Under pressure – Red centre odyssey – Four miles up in a 182 – PIFR theory to practice – A visit to a Cirrus factory – Stanthorpe pilgrimage

Cirrus pilot proficiency program – Amberley restricted airspace – Grand Canyon and Oshkosh – Wings dinner – Total GPS failure – Test anxiety – One long table – Night circuits under the IFR – Hunter Valley airventure – Club open day – Children of the magenta beware!

50th Anniversary issue – RAC moments – The accidental theory specialist – A day at Amberley – Avalon Airshow – The great beer lift – The ski’s the limit – Outback air race – Life of a VET student – Winter weather – Childers flyaway – Memories of RAC – RPA operations

This tiger flies like an angel – Are you really that good? – Wings Dinner Awards – Cirrus life – Fright VFR – Lifting the lid on Bernoulli – We did return – RTO roundup – A dusty diamond part 2 – Instructor intro – Master the 5p’s – Learning to fly at RAC – Curly’s corner

Friday the 15th March 2024 was a bit of a windy day. Garry Ayre and I had decided to fly to Orchid Beach on Fraser Island / K’gari as I’d been wanting to go there for a long time but the strip is too short for a Cirrus. Garry with his newly minted PPL is keen to get to know a few more airstrips around SE Queensland and despite being a local had never been to K’gari before – ever. Now I’m back to flying in the 172 the opportunity arose so we grabbed it.

I flew the outbound leg so I would have the challenge of landing at Orchid Beach on a short-ish strip in fairly windy conditions. Taking off from Redcliffe we crossed Bribie Island and breezed past the Sunshine Coast and Noosa. Tracking up the Cooloola Coast we were soon at Double Island Point and passed Rainbow Beach before crossing to K’gari. It took about another 20 minutes from there up the eastern coast of the island before we reached Orchid Beach. We only saw one other aircraft on the way. It looked like a sight seeing aircraft as it landed on the beach below us just near Ely Creek.

We were flying at about 2000ft to avoid a ceiling of stratocumulus cloud at about 2500ft so couldn’t see that far ahead. Coming around the final headland the airstrip at Orchid Beach appeared before us like a big green paddock right next to the beach.

Now my dad flew into Orchid Beach a few times in the 1970s and had told me that the strip they used at the time had fallen into the sea long ago due to coastal erosion. The current strip was built sometime later I suppose.

There was a strong and gusty south easterly blowing so it was sort of parallel to the 13/31 airstrip but as we watched the windsocks they were definitely moving around with a westerly component at the northern end. Ah well there was nothing else for it but to give it a try and if it was too wild we could just “go around”. First I set up for a 500ft overfly however, to have a bit of a look at the strip, check its length and scare away any prowling dingoes. As we approached the strip from the north at 500ft the turbulence was pretty impressive and Garry mentioned something about a “washing machine”. The windsock was dancing around quite a bit as we flew overhead.

Climbing out again to 1000ft it was also fairly turbulent so we agreed that even though I’d give it a go if I felt at all uneasy I’d put the power on and we’d climb back out again. Our plan B was to go to Maryborough for a coffee instead.

Coming around on base leg for RWY13 the turbulence seemed a bit less and the windsock was remaining fairly stable and parallel to the strip. I turned onto final and descended. At about 300ft we got more of the turbulence we’d had on the first approach and the crosswind component increased as the windsock danced up and down. I could feel the tension rise, but hey it wasn’t any worse than some of the cross wind days at Redcliffe. The gusty nature of the wind meant that my airspeed was not very stable. For a short field landing I had been originally aiming at 61 knots but with the airspeed varying +/- 5knots I decided 65 knots was a reasonable average to aim for. Applying power and dropping it back again I held it within the 60-70 range as we flared, maybe a bit too much and then lowered again and finally touched down with a firm but not too firm landing. We still had a way to go to the parking area so the strip was certainly long enough. It had just been a bit awkward. But it’s important to practise these skills every now and then and that’s exactly what we’d come for so a big tick there. I felt suitably proud of my achievement. I cancelled my sartime and we locked IVW before exiting the parking area.

The airstrip is located next to the general store, cafe and bar/restaurant so ideal for lunch or a coffee. Garry and I headed over, paid our $30 landing fee and ordered a coffee each. And surprisingly good coffee it was too! There’s a deck that looks out to the airstrip and the ocean and a beer garden up the other end. The shop is well stocked and the bottle shop prices aren’t really much more expensive than in the city. All in all a very nice little joint.

Over coffee we discussed the trip back. Garry would take off and fly the leg to Maryborough, passing over Hervey Bay on the way. We’d land at Maryborough for a short break and then head back to Redcliffe via the Sunshine Coast hinterland. On the way out to the strip we agreed on a go/nogo point being the windsock near the parking area. The grass was fairly short but it was a bit bumpy so we couldn’t tell how fast we’d accelerate. We decided that if we hadn’t reached rotate speed by the windsock he’d abort the takeoff and try again.

We backtracked to the very start of RWY13 and had a good view of the airstrip.

There were only some fairly low bushy trees at the far end but there was a bit of a hill. The highest point was straight ahead and we could head to the right a bit to avoid it if need be. But we’d done our calculations for take off distances and knew that it should be fine. There was about 10 knots of headwind too that should decrease our distance further still.

Garry put his feet on the brakes and applied full power. The tacho showed maximum RPM and the crosswind seemed to have died away – we were ready to go. Releasing the brakes IVW started to accelerate down the strip. There were a few undulations so we were up and down a bit and each time we went down it slowed us down a bit so we accelerated more slowly than normal. Even so, we were approaching rotate speed well before the windsock go/nogo marker. Garry rotated and we lifted off slightly, then held in ground effect to increase our speed further and then climbed out well before the end of the strip. We were up!

Climbing out we were hit by the gusty crosswinds again and were thrown around a bit as we turned left and headed out over the sea, then climbed and turned further, departing to the south west overhead the airstrip. It was easy navigation down the coast towards Hervey Bay but I put a “direct to” Maryborough in the GPS just to make use of it.

Approaching Hervey Bay another aircraft advised he was taking off and heading for Lady Elliot Island. Garry mentioned we were about to overfly Hervey Bay at 2000ft so the other pilot agreed to fly no higher than 1500ft until he’d passed underneath us. We kept a good lookout for him as we flew closer but didn’t actually see him until he’d pass in front and below us. We told him we had him sighted and he could start his climb for his flight out to the island.

It was only another 10 or 15 minutes to Maryborough. Garry decided to do a straight in approach on RWY17. A Sling2 from Caloundra was also heading for Maryborough but he was a bit closer to us so he landed and was taxiing into the parking area as we were on final. There was a bit of a crosswind again but not as gusty as it’d been at Orchid Beach.

It was a good landing and we taxied to the parking area for a short “pit stop”. Climbing back in again 10 minutes later we backtracked on RWY17 and then departed to the south passing over the Mary River and the Maryborough CBD.

We passed over some lush green country as we tracked towards Borumba Reservoir in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

This reservoir will be used for pumped hydro in the future and Queensland Hydro will build a new dam to hold water higher up in the surrounding hills.

From there we tracked straight for Redcliffe, descending to 2500 ft to stay below the clouds. I told Garry he needs to get his instrument rating so he can fly through the clouds and doesn’t have to stay below them. First though he has to do the CSU endorsement so he can fly the Cessna 182 that is a bit faster than the 172.

After passing Maleny and the Glasshouse Mountains we were descending into Redcliffe.

There was a raging 15 knot crosswind at Redcliffe so sensibly, after one bounce, Garry did a go around on his first attempt to land. We came around for the second attempt and he put it down nice and firmly. A Lufthansa pilot would be proud.

Every two years (except during Covid times) Cirrus Australia put on an “event” for Cirrus owners and pilots. It’s supposed to be a chance for people to network and for Cirrus sales people to talk people into buying or upgrading a plane. There’s also few lectures thrown in but they are more light weight than in the COPA weekends that are held in the alternate years. In the past Cirrus Life has been held in Hamilton Island, Uluru and Hobart. In 2023 it was in Adelaide. The idea is that as many people as possible fly there in their own Cirrus. That was our plan (Mike, Brett and I to fly in MSF) until MSF was destroyed in a crash in early October. So without a readily available aircraft we flew down on Friday 17th November with Qantas/Alliance. Sigi, Sharon and Erica came too, as this is definitely designed as a “with partners” event.

Adelaide was a great venue, with beautiful architecture in the city, the rolling hills around its perimeter and added into the mix was a little bit of history related to Australian cricket. 

Touching down in Adelaide around 10am we were met by the Cirrus team who transported us to the Eos by SkyCity Hotel in North Terrace, just next to the Casino and across the river from Adelaide Oval. The event kick off was the Friday evening cocktail party.  Approximately 150 people filled the rooftop terrace of the Eos by SkyCity Hotel.  This venue gave everyone the opportunity to view the city of Adelaide and the Adelaide Oval from a high vantage point and to mix and mingle with old friends.  An artist who did instant caricature sketches added a bit of fun.

Saturday morning saw the start of the conference while the partners took the opportunity to visit the German town of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills and the McLaren Vale wine area.

There were several guest speakers from Cirrus USA touching on topics of interest ranging from how to clean your aircraft and what’s the best way to do a go around, to an examination of Cirrus incidents over the past 10 years.  Garmin did a segment on their avionics platform, followed by BMG Insurance who discussed the contentious issue of increasing insurance premiums for light aircraft. 

Saturday lunch was held at the Adelaide Oval, a short walk away across the river.  There was plenty of history in the wings here, not only for cricket fans but for AFL too. 

Cirrus invited Queensland and Australian test cricketer, Greg Ritchie, as guest speaker and he kept the audience captivated for about 60 minutes.  Excessive laughter continued throughout his entire presentation.  He brought back many memories of The Footy Show on Channel 9 when Ritchie, as the very popular ‘Mahatma Cote’, ran riot with skits that you probably wouldn’t get away with today.  What an amazing guest speaker!  The lunch was followed by a guided tour of the recently reconstructed Adelaide Oval, including a look inside the heritage listed scoreboard.

Saturday evening we were bussed to Penfold’s Magill winery, home of the famous Grange.  Back in the day the winery was on the outskirts of Adelaide.  Today it’s surrounded by several suburbs that extend right up to the start of the hills district.  Christopher and Mary Penfold started the winery back in 1844 at the Magill Estate and today that estate is in pristine condition.  After a tour of the cellars we enjoyed some wine tasting with canapés while being treated to some great music by the very talented solo violinist Cardinia, who manages to merge classical and pop with a touch of electronic.

Full to the brim we were bussed back to the city.

Sunday there was more Cirrus stuff to consume in lectures and the opportunity to fly a simulator, including being able to pull the ‘CAPS’ handle and deploy the parachute overhead Adelaide. 

The finale was a gala dinner at the Oval.  Cirrus organised a 12 piece band called the Hindley Street Country Club who were on stage for almost three hours, playing non stop a variety of music that got almost everyone up on the dance floor till the end, including a couple of encores.

Monday came and we all headed back home wondering what Cirrus will think up in two years’ time when they host the next ‘Cirrus Life Event’.

On Friday 1st March 2024 Garry Ayre and I flew to Nanango and Kingaroy, following the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail from Moore to Yarraman on the way.

It was my first landing at Nanango where there’s a well maintained 850m long grass strip.

It took about 30 minutes to walk into town where I left Garry in the RSL while I did a quick recce of the town in readiness for our cycle trip in April.

I decided the RSL was the best place for lunch so we settled in there for a BLT and a coffee. After lunch we caught a taxi back out to the airstrip, started up and took off, climbing to 3000ft for the 5 minute hop over to Kingaroy where Garry moved into the left seat for the return journey.

An RFDS King Air arrived with a patient while we were preparing for departure.

Taking off to the south east we passed by the Tarong Power Station and then retraced our tracks via Linnville to Kilcoy.

There was a head wind and it was very hazy west of Kilcoy on the way back due to a whole bunch of fires in the hills west of Dayboro. Nevertheless the surrounding country was still vivid green.

With Swiss timing precision that QANTAS can only dream of we landed at Redcliffe just in time for the monthly aeroclub barbecue!